I would elaborate but I think a complaint letter says it better, so I'll share that with you.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to inform you of my dismay at the "help" and "service" I have received from the Jobcentre and it's staff.
I was made redundant in January 2009 and have struggled to find work ever since. I have managed to find a number of temporary jobs through agencies that were either unsuitable or never really long term. I have also had a number of interviews which I have been unsuccessful in.
It was with great reluctance that I signed up to receive unemployment benefit because of the automatic negative impact it has on my own self worth, but I did it simply because I could not afford not to while I was unemployed. There is a wide range of criteria that I as a jobseeker have to agree to fulfil, such as agreeing to do at least 3 things to look for a job inbetween signing dates. I do that at least every hour of every day. I have to prove that I am looking for work. I do that, too.
I was however under the impression that I would also receive a great level of support to get back into work. Not only have I had no help whatsoever from yourselves but today I have realised that you actively stop people going for a job.
In my 15 months plus since I was made redundant I have managed to find one suitable position through the Jobcentre that has actually replied to me. The position was in London but, I thought after checking it out, the position is within walking distance of where some of my family live and have agreed to let me live there rent free for a couple of months. So, imagine my delight when they rung me back within hours of my application on Wednesday 28th April to say if I could get down to London for Friday 30th April they would interview me. It was an agency who were dealing with the application but they said it would basically be just to fill in the paperwork and then they could send me to interview. I was hesitant because I didn't think I would be able to, so I said I doubted that I would due to time constraints.
However I then remembered a comment made in a Back to Work group session I had last Thursday where I was reminded of the Travel to Work scheme, anything out of area that could be proven and I would be able to get my travel costs paid for.
Last year I did have a couple of interviews where I used this scheme but unfortunately I was successful. My troubles didn't end there because I was given conflicting advice from Jobcentre advisors who told me I could claim retrospectively and then said I couldn't, so I was left out of pocket until I was eventually refunded. I was however told that it would be "too cheeky" to ask for the cost of a Travelcard in London to be refunded.
I was then told twice in March that I couldn't recover costs for travelling to an interview because it was retrospective, regardless of the fact that my travelling was so short notice I would not have been able to do so anyway.
Anyway, I thought, however short notice if I went in on Thursday 29th April it would still be in advance and I would be able to claim the costs. I rung the agency who said if I could do that then they would put me forward for the interview, and I said that I would let them know as soon as I knew. So, though I was due to sign in the afternoon, I went first thing so that I would have maximum time to travel and prepare for the interview.
Before I had even given the details of the job the advisor (name removed) tried to put me off. After being asked when the interview was, I said, "tomorrow" (Friday) and then she said "what time?". Obviously I didn't know the exact time and said I had the details if she wanted to contact the agency. She then said "you know you would have to go and collect the travel voucher today" to which I responded was fine, because I would be going into town anyway to get the train.
She then said that two day travel vouchers don't get warranted. Obviously I am not sure if this is true or not but if it is, it is a bit unreasonable to expect someone to get up at 4am to get the earliest train from (location removed) to London at 5:30am and allow time for the inner city commute to (inner city location removed) if they wanted to see me at 9am, and even that would be an incredible rush.
Moreover, the fact that a two day return cost £60.00 and the cheapest one day return costs £165.00 (with the cheapest two single tickets coming to £130) doesn't even make that cost efficient.
Still, she then said how would I expect to stay down there. I said I had relatives within walking distance and I wouldn't need or apply for any overnight costs. She then said she would ring the agency, she did, and seemingly interrupted the person she was speaking to after receiving confirmation that I would need to go into the agency prior to the interview. She hung up the phone and then told me I can't claim costs for an agency. I told her that I had been informed that was merely a formality and that the interview for the job would be tomorrow, she said no, it was just to sign up for the agency and the travel to interview scheme doesn't cover that. She then said that obviously the agency just wanted me to register and wouldn't put me through to an interview immediately because "they would have to run the background checks" on me first and wait for those.
I was confused, as you would reasonably expect, having not only been the recipient of seemingly inaccurate information from the agency but also repeatingly conflicting, contradictory advice from the advisor who kept telling me different reasons for why she wouldn't permit me the travel costs before then going onto ring the agency anyway.
After a short while actually rationalising everything I had been told, I rung the agency back. I thought that I should find out if what the advisor said was true and it was just to sign up for the agency, with the feeling that if there really was still an interview available I might just lend yet more money and end up owing even more just in the mere hope that I could get a job.
I was surprised to learn that yes, I would have been put forward for an interview immediately and that registering was just a formality due to the short notice of it. There would be no need for background checks, and I wouldn't just have been travelling to merely sign up with the agency. Unfortunately though due to what they had heard from the jobcentre advisor they had already put forward someone else for the role anyway, so I couldn't apply for this position unless I was willing to travel down anyway and be on standby incase that person didn't get the job.
Obviously I knew there was no chance of getting help for that and I couldn't personally justify spending another £75 (including travelcards to get back etc) but I was disgusted to realise that I had been lied to, and probably repeatedly lied to, by someone who had immediately given me the impression anyway that she was in no mood to help me get a job, someone whose responsibility it is to actually help people get into work.
Of course I am aware of my responsibility to find work. It's a responsibility to myself first and foremost, because I have bills and payments that I simply can't afford to get out of. I'm aware of the consequences of failing to assume my responsibility, that my "benefit" may be stopped.
What are the consequences, though, for someone who has actively stopped me applying for a job that I would have been quite likely to get considering there were only 2 applicants and I was over qualified for it anyway? Will she be responsible for paying my phone bill? Will she be able to pay the £7,000 I am contractually obligated to pay for my wedding in August? Will she cover the interest payments I have to pay as a result?
Are there any consequences or ramifications at all for someone who lies to someone who desperately needs a job to stop them even applying for it? That it was a job actually advertised BY the jobcentre makes least sense of all!!
I have grown accustomed to the non-help of the Jobcentre. The staff are not really helpful or particularly intelligent themselves, the job points and websites mainly run agency jobs which apparently are excluded from help by the Jobcentre or else advertise the same job about 50 times, clogging up the engine and making you feel like you're applying for many different roles when you're not. I never thought I would actually see the day, though, when someone who is employed explicitly to help people as much as they can so they have the best chance of employment actively refuses to help an unemployed person who is willing to jump through all of the many hoops and ridiculous policies JUST for a chance, and when asked why, lies to their face.
Thanks for nothing,
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